Southern Company
Southern Company deploys a digital twin with AVEVA PI System and Asset Information Management
Southern Company, an integrated U.S. electric utility, has more than 46,000 MW of generating capacity, 200,000 miles of transmission lines, more than 80,000 miles of natural gas pipelines and 170 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage, serving more than nine million customers through eight utilities. Its generating units are spread across eight states and use nuclear, coal, gas, biomass and renewable sources, with data coming from a wide variety of vendors, software and protocols. Service continuity is an absolute priority, which called for a platform capable of unifying this heterogeneous landscape. Deploying AVEVA PI System and AVEVA Asset Information Management now makes it possible to collect, analyze and contextualize data to build a true digital twin. Teams can access a secure, browser-based information hub from anywhere, and AVEVA Asset Information Management provides a single source of truth for sharing information.
Testimonials
FAQ
How does AVEVA create a digital twin for a 46,000 MW fleet spread across 8 states?
Southern Company operates 46,000 MW, 200,000 miles of transmission lines and 80,000 miles of gas pipelines across 8 states, with a diverse energy mix (nuclear, coal, gas, biomass, renewables). AVEVA PI System and AVEVA Asset Information Management collect, analyze and contextualize data from heterogeneous vendors and protocols to build a unified digital twin. This digital twin makes it possible to manage service continuity for 9 million customers through a hardware-agnostic platform.
What role does AVEVA Asset Information Management play in providing a single source of truth?
AVEVA Asset Information Management provides Southern Company with a single source of truth for sharing information about its generation assets. Technical documents, drawings, maintenance histories and operational data are consolidated in a consistent repository. This unification eliminates redundancies, ensures the reliability of the data used for critical decisions and supports regulatory compliance processes in a particularly heavily audited energy sector.
Why is a browser-based information hub strategic for a multi-state operator?
Southern Company operates assets in 8 US states with distributed teams. AVEVA provides an information hub that can be accessed securely through a browser, from anywhere and at any time. This universal accessibility removes dependence on specific workstations, streamlines collaboration between sites and speeds up operational decisions. For a multi-site operator, this web architecture has become the modern standard for digital transformation.
How can data from multiple vendors, protocols and technologies be unified?
Southern Company's fleet combines nuclear, coal, gas, biomass and renewables, each with its own software and protocols. AVEVA PI System was designed for this diversity: native connectors to industry standards (OPC, Modbus, proprietary protocols) and data normalization in a common model. This interoperability preserves existing investments while enabling cross-functional analysis, which is essential for managing such a diverse energy mix.
Why does a hardware-agnostic AVEVA solution minimize replacement costs?
A hardware-agnostic platform like AVEVA PI System allows Southern Company to gradually modernize its infrastructure without abrupt disruption or complete replacement. Older equipment coexists with new equipment, and replacements follow natural life cycles. This technological flexibility minimizes CapEx, preserves the value of past investments and offers a sustainable digital transformation path for a large-scale electric utility.